The Super Bowl is greatest marketing concept sports has ever stumbled upon. And it didn’t take Madison Avenue pitchmen long to see the potential.

Over the past four-plus decades, Super Bowl commercials have not only pushed products, they’ve helped elevated the game’s profile to new heights by drawing in more casual fans, and even those with no interest in football whatsoever.

They’ve added a pop culture element to Super Sunday, with iconic brands using everyone from superstar athletes and celebrities, to everyday people in an effort to sell things using humor, innovative ideas and irreverence.

And with a 30-second spot costing you $5-million for Super Bowl LII, they’d better be good.

It’s tough to narrow the list down because there have been so many great ones of the years, but here’s five you can’t go wrong with:

5. Volkswagen ``The Force’’ (2011) – With the runaway success of Star Wars: The Force Awakes, they might think about re-releasing this classic. It’s one of those commercials that touches on the vagaries of everyday life, as the young boy in his full Darth Vader costume tries to conjure up the Force around the house as he encounters the dog, the washer and dryer, and a sandwich, before finally settling on his dad’s car. And as the dad unlocks the doors at the perfect moment, his son suddenly believes anything’s possible. It was released on the internet in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, and had 15 million views by the time it aired.

4. Xerox ``Monks’’ (1977) – In a lot of ways, this was the commercial that started it all. This was the early days of big-time ad campaigns on Super Sunday. It’s almost comical now as you see Brother Dominic leaving the serene setting of the monastery before emerging in a modern copy center, where this massive machine can do a whopping two pages per minute. What will they think of next. And it delivers what would become an iconic advertising line when, after returning with 500 copies, the father declares ``It’s a miracle.’’

3. McDonald's "Showdown" (1993) – I’m not sure how a commercial could have been more iconic in the early 1990s than featuring Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and the Big Mac. If they'd thrown in Hulk Hogan people's heads would have exploded. After starting off with some pretty standard shots in a game of Horse in which the first one to miss a shot has to watch the other one eat the Big Mac, it escalates to shots that, well, only those two could possibly make. It finally ends with the pair on top of Chicago's Hancock Building for a shot. The NBA was king back then, and this commercial proved it.

2. Coke ``Mean Joe Greene’’ (1980) – The Pittsburgh Steelers were in the midst of a dynasty, and people love dynasties. When this commercial, featuring future Hall of Fame defensive end Mean Joe Greene, aired during Super Bowl XIV, the Steelers were in the process of winning their fourth world championship in six season. It was touching, as a rather grouchy, tired Greene finally accepts the kid's Coke, chugs the entire bottle and then says ``Hey kid, catch!’ before throwing him his sweaty jersey. Nowadays, they’d just take a selfie together.

1. Apple ``Mac’’ (1984) - More than three decades later this one is still so stunning because it actually does give you a glimpse of the future, not just some schlocky sale pitch. This was the roll out of the first Macintosh computer by Apple, in a commercial done by Blade Runner director Ridley Scott. It grabs your attention and holds it, until the narrator says, ``and you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like `1984.’ ‘’ Now, 32 years later, everyone will be on their iPhones tweeting about this year’s commercials.